On Wednesday, October 8, 2025, the Federal Cabinet approved the draft bill amending the Medical Cannabis Act.
Since the law came into force in April 2024, a worrying trend has been observed regarding the consumption of cannabis flowers for medicinal purposes. In the first half of 2025, imports increased by more than 400 percent compared to the same period last year – from around 19 to around 80 tons. This increase is not due to increased demand among seriously ill patients, as statutory health insurance prescriptions only increased by a single-digit percentage. The aim of the draft law is to correct these negative trends while simultaneously ensuring the supply of medical cannabis to patients with serious illnesses.
Medical cannabis is a prescription drug and not a product for purely recreational purposes. The massive increase in cannabis imports and the practice of prescribing online without any personal medical contact require political action. The use of cannabis for medical reasons must regularly be clarified in a personal consultation between doctor and patient. We will prohibit the professionalized misuse of prescriptions via the internet. For patients who rely on medical cannabis for medical reasons, supplies will continue to be guaranteed.
The law in detail
- In the future, medical cannabis can only be prescribed after personal contact between the patient and the doctor, either in the doctor’s office or during a home visit. This requires consideration of the patient’s health status, individual illnesses, and other medications being used, which generally requires a careful medical history and physical examination. Furthermore, ongoing information about the risk of addiction and possible physical or psychological consequences of consumption, which can change depending on the extent and duration of consumption, is required.
- For follow-up prescriptions, a face-to-face consultation is required every four quarters, with the previous contact within that period being related to the prescription of cannabis for medical purposes. Under this condition, a prescription may also be made via telemedicine in the following three quarters.
- The mail-order option for medicinal cannabis is excluded, as there are comprehensive information and consultation obligations that must be provided during a personal consultation at the pharmacy. Pharmacies’ delivery services remain unaffected.
